


broken heart.

by seekrest



Series: febuwhump 2020. [14]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff without Plot, Grandpa Tony, Peter Parker is a Good Dad, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22718005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: “Kid, you’re breaking my heart.”Tony could hear Peter’s laugh on the other end, seeing Pepper raise an eyebrow from the couch as he walked into the living room.“Don’t be so dramatic, Tony.” Peter says, Tony sighing as he plops down on the space beside Pepper.“I just miss you, kid.”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: febuwhump 2020. [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619581
Comments: 30
Kudos: 251
Collections: Irondad and Spiderson Valentine's Day Fic Exchange 2020, Peter Parker is a Good Dad





	broken heart.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OnceUponaFangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponaFangirl/gifts).



> Happy love day Alex!! Hope you enjoy this slice of love and family fluff :)

“Kid, you’re breaking my heart.” 

Tony could hear Peter’s laugh on the other end, seeing Pepper raise an eyebrow from the couch as he walked into the living room.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Tony.” Peter says, Tony sighing as he plops down on the space beside Pepper, giving him an amused smile as Peter continues. “It’s just a weekend--”

“It’s not a weekend, kid. It’s your spring _break_.” Tony interjects, feeling the slight whine in it when Pepper gives him a look - taking control of his emotions as he looks towards the ceiling and sighs. “I just miss you, kid.”

“I know, I miss you too.” Peter says, sounding more mature than Tony feels when he says, “I promise I’ll be there by Monday afternoon at the latest.”

Tony can feel Pepper’s stare on him, grinding his teeth as he swallows down the feelings he doesn’t want to admit he has when he says, “No kid, don’t rush it.” 

He exhales out of his mouth, leaning his head back to meet Pepper’s steady gaze on him. “You should have fun with your friends, Pete. It’s your last spring break.” 

Peter pauses for a moment, Tony feeling the guilt and uncertainty through the phone when he says, “Are you sure? I know we’d planned to--”

“Don’t worry about it, kid.” Tony is quick to say, squashing down the nascent feelings that he doesn’t want to admit, ones that he knows would only add on to Peter’s overblown guilt complex.

“Morgan’s got her swim meet on Saturday anyway, you don’t want to spend your weekend surrounded by preteens that smell like chlorine.” He jokes, hearing Peter laugh on the other end.

“If she wins, tell her I’ll take her out for ice cream, just the two of us when I get there.” Peter says, Tony rolling his eyes.

“Have you _met_ Morgan? Twelve years old and already planning to take over the world. She’ll win alright, just a matter if she breaks her own record or not.”

“She’s really competitive, Tony. You ever wonder where she gets it from?”

Tony glances at Pepper before saying, “Her mother, clearly.” 

He can hear Peter’s snort from the other side of the couch, smiling at her before saying, “I mean it, don’t worry about us. We’ll be okay.”

“I’ll see you guys in a few days then.” Peter says, hesitating for a few moments before saying, “Love you, Tony.”

Tony smiles, three little words that held so much meaning for the two of them - Tony barely remembering the time when the causal affection they’d slipped into now after years of knowing each other had seemed impossible.

“Love you too, kid.” Tony says as he hangs up, facing Pepper as she shakes her head.

“What?” Tony asks. 

“You and Happy. Worse than May,” she says, closing the book in her hands. “She at least gives him some space to grow.”

“This has nothing to do with _space to grow_ ,” Tony says dismissively, winking at her as he grabs the television remote from their coffee table. “I just miss him.”

“I know you do.” Pepper affirms, Tony glancing back at her to see the warm smile on her face. “But you know this is only the beginning.”

“I’m not going through separation anxiety, Pep.” Tony scoffs, turning his attention back to the television screen as he starts to flick through the channels - feeling her eyes still on him. “Kid stayed in the city for college and you don’t see me crying about it.”

“I think you did cry, if I remember right.” Pepper laughs, Tony rolling his eyes. “Something about going to Columbia being some kind of betrayal?”

“As long as he didn’t go to CalTech, I didn’t care.” Tony easily lies, putting the remote down as he faces Pepper again. 

He sighs, tilting his head to the side. “God, it’s just— he’s _graduating_ already, Pep. I still remember moving him into that cheap dorm room like it was yesterday.” 

“Time stands still for no one. Not even for _you_ , Tony.” She smirks, Tony grinning as he laughs. 

“I don’t know, I did in fact essentially invent time travel.” Pepper joins him in his laughter as he says, “Could always do another go around.”

Pepper just smiles, saying nothing as she shakes her head and turns her focus back to the book in her hands. 

Tony softens at that, the realization of what Pepper was saying and how real it was - glancing back at the television only to see some kind of sappy commercial about a father and his son. 

He knew time was passing by them, Morgan’s thirteenth birthday coming up being proof enough - still unable to wrap his head around the reality that she was growing older any more than Peter was. 

But Tony sighs, knowing that for as much as he wished that time could stand still - that he wouldn’t trade his life now for anything, remembering all too well what it had been when Peter had been dusted and gone - when the joy he took in watching Morgan grow had been overcast with the shadow of his grief. 

Tony chases that away now, content with the knowledge that everything was as it should be. 

* * *

“This is getting ridiculous.” Tony sighed, Pepper giving him a look as he paces back and forth.

“Ridiculous _how_ exactly?” She asks, Tony continuing to pace as he waits for the phone in his hand to ring. 

“The kid said he was proposing to her _last night_ and,” he makes a face, waving his free hand around, “I didn’t need an update last night all things considered but it’s been almost twenty-four hours here, Pep. What’s going on?” 

Tony watches as she raises an eyebrow, Tony sighing again as he waves the phone in her hand. “I need to know. Did she say yes? Did she break his heart and run away? Gotta say, Pep you know I love Peter but between you and me, I think she could do better.”

Pepper laughs at that, Tony grinning at her as he shakes his head. “You’re right, clearly they’re made for each other but…” He trails off, looking at the phone in his hand - suddenly overcome with a different feeling in his gut at the idea of Peter not calling him just yet. 

It was a great thing, Tony being there to help Peter as he prepared to ask Michelle to marry him - giving him advice and tips, wondering aloud when it’d changed since Tony had been sure that _she_ was going to be the one to ask Peter to marry her. 

But if all went according to plan, and Tony has a feeling that it did, then it would just be another sign that Peter was growing up and moving forward - feeling less out of place at this particular change but more a sense of melancholy that Peter’s life was changing again. 

Tony’s phone rings then, Pepper giving him a knowing smile as she nodded towards it. “Better answer that before you fly off the balcony and find him.”

“Ha ha.” Tony says as he smiles, seeing Peter’s name flash across the caller ID and answering it, hearing his excited voice on the other line as he answers, “Hey kid.”

“She said yes!” Peter practically yells, Tony laughing as he stops pacing and finds his way to the couch - sitting down as gently as he can as his back aches, making a face as he says, “Did you expect her to say anything else?”

Peter laughs, Tony adjusting the phone in his grip as he says, “No, not really but… I was still nervous you know?”

Tony smiles, the rush of love and joy he feels about how excited Peter sounds chasing away any other feelings as he says, “Yeah kid, I know.”

“It was… it was perfect, Tony. Totally perfect.” 

“I’m glad, Pete.” Tony says, settling into the couch before saying, “Tell me everything.” 

* * *

“Tony, are you serious right now?”

Tony puts a finger up to his mouth in a shushing motion, gently rocking the baby in his arms back and forth - narrowing his eyes as he shoots Peter a look before whispering, “He’s sleeping.”

“Yeah, I know he’s sleeping.” Peter whispers back, the bags under his eyes and the exhaustion radiating off him so clearly that Tony would almost laugh if not for the sleeping baby in his arms as Peter continues. “ _I’m_ the one who put him to sleep. What are you even doing in here? I turn around for three seconds and you’re gone.” 

Tony shrugs as gently as he could, nodding towards the other room. “You, Michelle and May were all wrapped up in debate about that home giveaway thing which, for the record, I’m with your better half, I think it’s bullshit.” Tony immediately glances down to Ben in his arms, remembering that Ben was entirely too young to really catch on to what he was saying before he continues.

“Giving away a free house without supplying _at least_ a year or two’s worth of utilities and insurance is just asking for a foreclosure.”

“First of all, that’s not what I was arguing against.” Peter says, shaking his head quickly. “And second, why do you always take MJ’s side?”

Tony grins, winking at him as he gently rocks Ben back and forth in his arms. “What can I say kid? Michelle’s been my favorite Parker since the moment she married you.”

“Let’s be honest, you’ve liked her more than me since the moment you _met_ her.” Peter replies, his voice loud enough that it causes Ben to stir a little Tony’s arms - looking apologetic as he quietly moves so that he’s right beside Tony, looking down at him over his shoulder.

They stand there for a moment, content to watch him as Ben seems to settle himself back to sleep in Tony’s arms - Tony watching out of the corner of his eye as Peter smiles, looking just as content and as overjoyed at seeing his son sleep as he’d been on the day he was born. 

The look on Peter’s face is one of pure contentment, an effervescent kind of joy that Tony wasn’t sure he’d ever see on his face - and yet one that he was so thankful that he got the chance to see.

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Peter whispers, breaking the quiet between them. 

“Hmm?” Tony asks, having a good guess what Peter was going to say but wanting to hear him say it anyway.

“Him. He’s--he’s here, after all that time waiting and preparing.” Peter shakes his head, Tony watching him with a smile on his face. “I just can’t believe how fast time flew by.”

Tony smiles knowingly at him, swallowing down something in his throat as he whispers, “You don’t even know the half of it, kid. One minute he’s like this and then the next...” Tony trails off. 

Peter tears his eyes away from Ben and meets Tony’s gaze - the realization of what Tony was saying dawning on him as he smiles back.

Peter had grown a little in the years since Tony had first met him, the not so subtle shadow on his chin and the lines around his eyes not just from exhaustion but from the way he’s transformed into less of a boy and more of a man - the surge of love Tony feels in his heart almost overwhelming as he gently rocks Peter’s son in his arms.

He’s inexplicably reminded of a conversation that he’d had with Pepper years and years ago, the slight twinge of jealousy at what it would mean for Peter to grow up and move on - to branch out in ways that Tony was objectively thankful for, even if it meant less one on one time than he would’ve liked with him. 

But then as he continues to rock Ben in his arms, shifting his attention back down to the little boy who’d captured Tony’s heart from the moment he was born - he immediately felt thankful for Peter having the chance to do so, not just for these quiet moments but for the big ones - a flash of memories of Peter graduating from high school and from college, feeling content in a different way that his new chapter of Peter’s life was just that - a _new_ one. 

Peter’s smile grows wider before finally speaks, breaking the silence between them as he whispers, “Glad he has the both of us around then.”

Tony smiles before saying, “Yeah Pete, he does.”

Peter puts a hand to his shoulder as he whispers, “Love you, Tony.”

Tony nudges him gently, feeling content and warm and whole as he whispers back.

“Love you too, kid.” 


End file.
